This invention relates generally to support structures, and more particularly, to systems for supporting the body weight of a person to facilitate various recreational and vocational activities.
Various braces have been proposed in the patent literature to provide leg support for persons. Some braces have even been proposed for wearing on a person's legs to facilitate snow skiing. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,928,872 (Johnson), there is disclosed a pair of devices, each of which is securable to a leg of the skier, to provide flexural knee and leg support. Each device includes an upper support sleeve positioned about the skier's leg above the knee and interconnected by a spring to lower support sleeve which is positioned about the skier's leg below the knee. The devices are ostensibly arranged so that the skier can assume a crouched position with part of the upper body weight being supported other than by the skier's knees. The springs are resilient beam springs. While the stated objective of the device in the Johnson patent is to reduce weight load on the knees, absorb shock and reduce the strain when the knee flexes, the use of resilient spring means appears to inherently produce an oscillatory or bouncing effect on the skier's body as the angle of his or her knee flexure changes during a ski run owing to the uneven terrain of a typical ski slope. The more rigid the spring, the more pronounced the rebounding effect will be, which effect is quite undesirable for controlled skiing. Moreover, the frequency of the springs of the Johnson patent will likely rarely match the frequency of flexure of the knee as caused by the traversal over the terrain. Thus, the device may tend to take the skier out of synchronism with the terrain, thereby also resulting in the loss of balance and control.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,404 (Lange), there is disclosed a brace for a skier which includes for each leg an upper and lower brace member interconnected at the knee in a pivoting, hinged joint. Each brace includes lateral support members which are arranged to be secured to respectively the upper and lower portions of the skier's leg. The brace is arranged to be mounted on the ski boot so that when so mounted, it has the effect of transmitting lateral forces to the edge of the skier's skis, while precluding excessive lateral bending forces on the skier's legs. While the device of the Lange patent appears generally suitable for its intended purposes, it fails to provide any body weight support for the skier since it permits free and unencumbered forward and rearward flexing of the skier's legs.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,665,619 (Gray), discloses a skier leg support in the form of a contoured member adapted to be secured by a strap to the ski boot. The contoured member extends upward toward the wearer's calf so that the support stiffness is transferred upwardly onto the skier's calf, adding strength to the leg when the skier leans back on the skis during acceleration.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,678,603 (Kaufman et al), discloses a ski boot having extension means extending up from the boot to the skier's calf in a similar manner to the patent to Gray. Both the Kaufman et al and Gray patents fail to provide any body weight support for the skier.